| SUSE LINUX – User Guide Part III. Internet / Chapter 14. ISDN Telecommunication | ||||
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 | 13.8. For More Information | 14.2. Usage |  | |
| SUSE LINUX – User Guide Part III. Internet / Chapter 14. ISDN Telecommunication | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13.8. For More Information | 14.2. Usage | | |
Table of Contents
Abstract
Even in this age of the Internet and e-mail, traditional communication means like phone and fax are still important. The communication package CapiSuite offers an ISDN-based solution for a computer-supported answering machine and fax.
The following chapter explains how CapiSuite works. This is followed by a description of its configuration with YaST and a brief introduction to the usage of the system.
CapiSuite is a daemon (a program that runs in the background) that provides basic telecommunication functions. The current version mainly offers functions for telephone and fax connections.
For example, the system supports the establishment and termination of incoming and outgoing fax and voice connections. Fax and audio files can then be sent and received over these connections. Some special functions, like the switching of a phone connection to a fax connection and the processing of DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency — common touchtone phone tones), are supported.
However, the system does not constitute a complete application suite for certain tasks, such as an answering machine application. The actual application was written in the Python scripting language (a language especially suitable for beginners) and can thus be freely adjusted to the your requirements. CapiSuite merely processes the provided scripts and executes the specified commands. This allows the creation of flexible solutions from a simple answering machine or fax program to a small call center (for which the system is still lacking some basic features).
The CapiSuite package includes some ready-made scripts that enable a comfortable multiuser answering machine and fax solution. The following pages refer to the use of these scripts. Following the installation, details on the system as well as instructions for writing custom scripts are available in /usr/share/doc/packages/capisuite/manual/index.html and on the project page http://www.capisuite.de/.
CapiSuite makes use of the CAPI programming interface for ISDN hardware. Because this interface has only been available for Linux for a short time, suitable drivers are not yet available for all ISDN adapters. However, drivers are already available for ISDN adapters from AVM and can easily be installed and configured with YaST.
Test the functionality of the CAPI driver by executing the command capiinfo as root. If detailed information about the capabilities of the ISDN adapter is returned, the driver is installed correctly and CapiSuite can be installed with YaST and used.
![[Tip]](admon/tip.png) | Tip |
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If needed, installation instructions are published on the web site of the CAPISuite project at http://www.capisuite.de. | |
Following the installation, YaST contains two modules for configuring the fax and answering machine functionality. These modules are described below.
The YaST module from the group contains a form with a user list and buttons for the processing of list entries. The list contains all the users already configured for the fax system. The CapiSuite scripts used here are multiuser and allow each user to send and receive faxes individually. The target number of an incoming call determines which user receives the fax. The list of this module is empty when it is started for the first time.
If various users want to receive faxes with CapiSuite, it must be ensured that the associated phone numbers are all different and that all these numbers are also associated with the line to which the ISDN adapter is connected. This is of importance if you concurrently use an ISDN PBX.
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Use only the answering machine module if you intend to receive both fax messages and regular calls under one number, as this module includes the functionality for recognizing and receiving fax messages. See 14.1.2. “Configuring the Answering Machine”. To be able to send fax messages, configure a suitable entry in the fax module, but leave the field for incoming phone numbers empty. | |
Use the buttons under the list to edit or delete existing entries or create new entries. When editing or creating, a dialog opens in which to enter or modify the following data:
Here, select the user for whom to activate the fax functionality. Incoming fax messages and status reports will be sent to this user account.
Phone numbers assigned to the user for incoming fax messages are entered in this field. Separate multiple phone numbers with commas. All faxes sent to these numbers will be forwarded to the user by e-mail. Leave this field empty if you only want the user to be able to send fax messages.
For identification purposes, the fax protocol uses a special ID that should normally contain the external phone number of the fax device in international notation. An example for a valid station ID is +1 305 123456 for the fax number 123456 in Miami, Florida. The maximum length of this entry is twenty digits. Valid characters are numbers, spaces, and the + symbol as prefix to the international country code.
This field can contain an arbitrary text to use as a header for sent faxes. Whether and how this text is featured on the sent document depends on the ISDN driver used.
The default setting MailAndSave causes a received fax message to be saved in the system and forwarded to the user by e-mail. The SaveOnly option merely causes the fax to be saved to the hard disk. This option is recommended for expert users only.
Click to accept the changes. Click to drop the changes and close the form.
The provided standard scripts also offer a comfortable multiuser answering machine. This can be be configured with the YaST module in the group.
Similar to the fax configuration, there is a list with the already configured users (which is empty when the module is started for the first time). The recorded incoming call is sent to the user associated with the phone number. This shows the importance of assigning unique phone numbers to the users. The individual user welcome message cannot be set at this point. The recording can be made later with the remote access function of the configured answering machine. The answering machine has an automatic silence recognition routine that terminates the recording session after five seconds without noises.
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Incoming fax calls are also automatically recognized and received in most cases. This automatic routine can, however, fail with older fax machines, which is why a separate fax number is to preferred wherever possible. | |
Use , , and to administer the entries. The entry form for creating a new entry or for modifying an existing one contains the following fields:
Select the system user for whom the answering machine should be configured. One or more fax numbers are assigned to each registered user. Incoming calls to these numbers are then sent to the user as e-mails.
Set the phone numbers for which messages should be recorded for the user. Faxes can also be sent to the declared phone numbers as the answering machine has an automatic fax recognition feature. Separate multiple numbers with commas.
This value defined in seconds determines after how much time the answering machine should answer an incoming call. A value can be selected from the list or entered.
Determines the maximum recording time for the answering machine — the maximum duration of a recorded incoming call in seconds. This value is usually of secondary importance, as the recording is usually terminated when the caller hangs up. However, to avoid extensive recordings, this value should be set to a reasonable time, such as two minutes (120 seconds).
The answering machine features various processing options for incoming messages. The default setting MailAndSave records a message, saves it in the system, and delivers it to the user by e-mail. The SaveOnly option can be chosen if the reception of e-mails is not desired. It merely saves the message to the hard disk. This option is only recommended for expert users. The None option completely deactivates the recording of messages. It plays the welcome message then hangs up.
Enter a personal identification number (PIN) for remote access. A numerical code of any length can be entered. If it is entered during playback of the welcome message, the user is taken to the remote access menu. The remote access feature is disabled if the field is left empty.
accepts the changes. closes the dialog without applying any changes.
